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The Future Fall of Satan | Revelation 12:7-12 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  According to the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the defining
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  features of the last days will be the increase of wars and
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  rumors of wars. And we have already seen hints
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  of this in our study of the Book of Revelation.
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  And there will be more clashes to come.
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  But this afternoon we are approaching a passage that
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  describes a future conflict unlike any other.
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  It is unique because it is not a battle fought between human
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  beings, nor does it take place on the earth.
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  It is actually an altercation that happens in the heavenly
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  places and among angelic beings. Now, up to this point in
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  Revelation, John's visions of heaven are generally described
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  as places of rest, worship, unending bliss.
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  But for the first time in this book, we encounter a vision of
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  heaven that is fierce and riotous.
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  And the reason for this unusual commotion is given to us plainly
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  in Revelation chapter 12, beginning in verse 7.
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  And I invite you to go with me there in your Bibles as we read
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  it together. Here's what the word of God
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  says. Now war arose in heaven, Michael
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  and his angels fighting against the dragon.
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  And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was
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  defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in
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  heaven. And the great dragon was thrown
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  down, that ancient serpent who was called the devil, and Satan,
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  the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth,
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  and his angels were thrown down with him.
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  And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the
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  salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God and the
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  authority of his Christ have come.
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  For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who
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  accuses them day and night before our God, and they have
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  conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
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  their testimony. For they love not their lives
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  even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens,
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  and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea,
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  For the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he
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  knows that his time is short. Let's pray, Father, we believe
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  that this is your word, and we believe that you want us to
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  understand it, but we also believe that we cannot do it
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  without your help. And so we now, as your church,
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  your people, come to you in humility, asking for your
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  guidance. We pray that you protect this
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  message from any confusion, from any distraction and more than
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  this Lord, that you would empower it, that we would fall
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  more in love with your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ through it,
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  that we would be inspired to live for him with greater zeal
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  and intentionality. So Lord, guard our minds, open
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  our hearts, fuel our bodies, Even so that we can absorb all
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  these things to the glory of your name.
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  We ask these things and the living matchless name of Jesus
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  Christ, Amen. I believe the way that we can
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  make most, the most out of this tax is by capturing at least
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  four things, at least four things.
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  This is about a war. You heard it in the first few
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  words of the opening verse of this passage.
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  And so I want us to consider 4 elements of this war.
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  The first thing is the timing of it.
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  When does this war take place? Is it something of the past?
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  Is it something currently happening?
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  Is it something that will take place in the future?
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  The timing of this war? Following that, we want to look
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  at the outcome of this war, What happened as a result of this
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  clash. Thirdly, I want us to look at
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  the celebration of this war because there is victory in
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  heaven. There is this sense of triumph
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  and what is this celebration really all about?
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  That's what we'll look at. And lastly and very briefly, the
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  aftermath of this war. It took place in heaven, but
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  we're going to feel it on earth. So let's look at the timing of
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  this war. There are some who believe that
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  what is described here is an account of Satan's defeat at the
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  cross, that when Christ died and he rose and he ascended.
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  What we have here is just that, what we almost get, like an
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  insight into the spiritual element to what took place on
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  Calvary. Others say, no, this is more of
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  a replay of what took place at Satan's original fall from his
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  initial rebellion when he was removed from his exalted
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  position in heaven and was cast down.
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  And those who hold to those views would say, well, what you
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  have here is almost John rewinding the tape, so to speak,
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  so that we kind of get the back story on the demonic influence
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  that has been permeating the earth ever since the beginning
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  of time up until the end of time.
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  It's almost like a flashback, but I don't think that's very
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  convincing when you consider the context.
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  I think when you actually do a little bit of investigation,
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  you'll discover that what this war is about has not yet taken
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  place. It's something concerning the
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  future. I want to give you at least
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  three observations from the verses that we just read that
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  confirm that conclusion. I want you to look.
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  Notice how the summary of Satan's defeat is that he and
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  his angels were permanently expelled from heaven.
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  Do you see that? And there was no longer any
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  place for them in heaven. Why is that significant?
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  Because a careful student of the Bible will know that even after
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  Satan's original expulsion and eviction from heaven, he still
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  had access to the heavenly dwelling place of God.
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  I don't think there's any more clear of a passage to support
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  that then the book of Job in the opening chapter of that book
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  where we find Satan approaching God ready to accuse his servant
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  Job. And there's no way to to think
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  that Satan was not expelled in his original fall after that.
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  That was after his fall, and he still had the ability to
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  approach God in such a way. You have additional insights
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  into this, like Zechariah chapter 3, where Zechariah has a
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  vision of Satan accusing the nation of Israel before the
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  Angel of the Lord who is Christ. And So what the Bible shows us,
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  though it's limited in its evidence, is that Satan
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  alternates between roaming the earth to deceive and destroy and
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  coming before God. Coming before God to do what?
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  In his arrogance, in his, in his pride, trying to convince God to
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  actually turn on his children. And we'll examine examine this
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  further in the next point. But for now, we can establish
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  that this eviction from heaven in Revelation 12 proves that
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  it's an occurrence yet to be realized, since we know that
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  elsewhere in Scripture, Satan still has limited access to
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  heaven, but after this war, he'll no longer have access to
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  heaven. The second point to consider is
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  in the last verse we read in this section.
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  So go back to verse 12 and notice what it says in the
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  second part. This heavenly voice says, But
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  woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you
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  in great wrath because he knows that his time is short.
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  When you combine the the woe upon the earth and the brevity
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  of time that is mentioned, it makes the most sense when you
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  consider it in light of the context of the time frame of the
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  Book of Revelation. You know this already, but the
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  primary focus of this book is to tell us about what's to come,
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  the events leading up to the return of Christ, and how Christ
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  will, when wickedness and evil reaches A feverish pitch,
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  cleanse it all and conquer it once and for all.
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  And so it makes the most sense for this short time mentioned
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  here in Revelation after Satan's defeat in this war, to
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  correspond with everything else taking place in Revelation.
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  In other words, the shortness of time mentioned here deals with
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  that time, that tribulation period that will lead up to
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  Christ's coming and ruling and reigning.
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  So for those who think that this is something of the past, they
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  would look at this short time as a general description of the
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  span of history, which is very, very unlikely.
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  When you again look at the rest of the Book of Revelation, it's
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  more fitting to see it in this final moment of time.
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  And as Satan is now thrown down, he realizes my time is running
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  out. And if these points are not
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  convincing enough, I think this final observation will settle
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  any remaining doubts, though this war is over.
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  And what we just read the scene is not this.
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  This section doesn't end at verse 12.
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  It continues down in verse 13 all the way to verse 17.
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  And when you see what happens immediately following Satan
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  being cast down to the earth, you get a better understanding
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  of when this took place or when this will take place.
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  So let's peek quickly. We're going to look at this next
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  week. But look down at verse 13 and
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  verse 14 and Revelation 12. And when the dragon saw that he
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  had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who
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  had given birth to the male child.
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  But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that
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  she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness to the place
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  where she is to be nourished for a time and times and half a
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  time. So notice the sequence.
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  Satan is defeated. He's cast down to the earth.
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  And verse 13 says when the dragon saw that he'd been thrown
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  down to the earth, he does something.
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  He does something. What does he do?
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  He pursues the woman. Have we seen the woman before?
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  Yes. Who does she represent?
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  Israel. Very good.
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  So the enemy here is going to pursue Israel in a unique way.
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  Now, as we just heard, we've seen this woman before.
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  And even the the terminology here in these verses should
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  remind us of a verse that we read when we were together last
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  time in the Book of Revelation. But let's just refresh our
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  memories. Scroll back up to verse 6 of
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  Revelation 12. What does it say?
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  And the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place
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  prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1260 days.
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  So what this is all saying about this woman is that during the
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  tribulation period, Israel is going to experience a unique
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  time of persecution, the the most intense oppression she has
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  ever known. And so fierce it will be that
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  many of the Jews will actually flee into the wilderness, a
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  place that has been appointed by God and he will nourish and take
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  care of them for a specific duration of time.
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  That's what we see in verse 6. But then it's repeated in the
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  verses that we read in verse 13 down to verse 14.
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  So here's what this means. If we understand that after the
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  dragon is cast out of heaven, he will pursue Israel as she flees
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  into the wilderness for a specific duration of time, and
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  that duration of time is unique to the tribulation period.
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  What does that mean about this war?
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  It means that this heavenly war must take place during the
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  tribulation period. This is something that is
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  obvious. I hope it's clear to us.
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  I pray. And so this is a future war, and
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  this evidence shows us that it's not describing something of the
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  past. But why at this point then?
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  Why is this battle taking place here and now?
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  And there are many who theorize different ideas or different
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  proposals. I don't think we need to
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  theorize. I think there is a great clue in
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  the very verses we just read that links us to a possible
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  answer. Look at verse 10 again,
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  Revelation 12, verse 10, after Satan is thrown down, it says,
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  and I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation
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  and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his
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  Christ have come. Do these words sound familiar to
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  us? They should they take us back to
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  the last thing we read before we looked at these visions in
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  Revelation chapter 12. In fact, that phrase, His Christ
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  only appears in one other place in all of Revelation.
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  Do you remember the announcement that was made when the 7th
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  trumpet blasted? In case you forgot, look at
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  verse 15 of Revelation 11. Then the 7th Angel blew his
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  trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The
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  Kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of
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  His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.
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  Remember, the 7th trumpet declares the inauguration of the
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  full manifestation of Christ's Kingdom.
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  This trumpet blast announces and prepares the world for the full
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  and complete expression of Christ's rule.
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  Why? Well, because the sealed
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  judgments are complete. And now the trumpet judgments
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  are complete and we only have one set of judgments left.
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  The bold judgments are going to pour out God's wrath.
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  And so in the 7th trumpet, this vision is about Christ is ready
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  to come. The Kingdom of our God, the
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  Kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ is ready to invade the
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  earth. And that celebration is
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  reiterated in this vision where after Satan is cast down from
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  heaven, they almost repeat that celebration.
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  Meaning what? I believe Satan and his demons
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  became aware of this announcement as it reverberated
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  in the spiritual realm that when that 7th trumpet was blasted,
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  even Satan and his demons understood what that meant.
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  So what does the evil one do? According to Revelation 12 and
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  his great pride and fury, he tries to stop it from happening.
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  And so he organizes an all out assault against heaven.
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  And this war breaks out, thinking that he can actually
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  put a stop to the purposes of God and of his Christ.
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  And so he confronts the Lord directly, but as always, he
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  fails and he is cast down. And the result of this war at
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  this point of the tribulation period is that the devil will
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  lose territory as a result. Which brings us to the second
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  point. We've considered the timing of
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  this war. It's going to happen in the
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  tribulation period very near to the actual return of Christ.
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  Satan is going to try to stop this from happening by engaging
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  in a face to face combat with God and his heavenly army.
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  He will fail. And what's the outcome point #2
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  of this war? Look back at verse 9 of
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  Revelation 12. And the great dragon was thrown
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  down, that ancient serpent who's called the devil and Satan,
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  deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth,
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  and his angels were thrown down with him.
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  What phrase stands out to you in this verse?
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  In this one verse, thrown down appears three times.
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  Other transitions say cast down. So this is what's being
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  highlighted. And why is it being emphasized
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  again? To show the embarrassing defeat
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  of the devil and to show how his activity from this point on will
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  be restricted to the earth. He'll be confined now to this
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  planet, whereas he had access to go to heaven and accuse the
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  brethren day and night. He will be barred from doing so
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  from this point on. And here's what many people
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  don't realize. Though Satan's defeat, his total
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  defeat, is certain, it is not immediate.
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  The Bible shows us that the devil's total defeat will take
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  place in stages. In fact, I want to show you how
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  there are actually 4 falls of Satan in the Bible. 4 falls of
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  Satan described to us in the Book of Revelation alone.
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  Would you like to know it? We don't have to go very far.
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  Go back to the beginning of Revelation 12, verse 3.
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  Let's look at this again. This is fall #1 we can call this
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  Satan's prehistoric fall, Satan's eviction from his
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  exalted position. You have to remember that
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  passages like Ezekiel and Isaiah give us a snippet of Satan's
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  fall, and both of those prophets actually give us an
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  understanding that Satan was one of the most highly exalted
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  heavenly creatures and he served a very, very important role.
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  But because of his pride and envy, wanting to be like God, he
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  was removed from that position of authority.
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  And it happened before creation. And I think Revelation 12 verse
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  3 and 4 mentions it briefly. Look again.
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  And another sign appeared in heaven.
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  Behold a great red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his
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  heads 7 diadems. His tails swept down a third of
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  the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
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  The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give
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  birth, so that when she bore her child, he might devour it.
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  So this picture of Satan like a dragon and his tails sweeping
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  1/3 of the stars, We've touched on this.
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  Those stars symbolize the angels.
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  He recruits a third of them. He deceives them to join them in
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  his cause and he's cast down through the earth.
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  That's fall number one at this point.
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  Yes, He is removed from His exalted position, but as we see
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  in Job and places like Zechariah, he can still access
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  heaven and accuse the brethren day and night.
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  I believe this fall is what Jesus alluded to in Luke chapter
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  10 verse 18 after sending out his disciples on a mini mission,
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  an evangelistic outreach and giving them power to heal the
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  sick and cast out devils. They come rejoicing saying even
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  in your name these, these demons submit and Jesus humbles them
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  and reminds them of his power, his authority by saying this in
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  Luke 1018. And he said to them, I saw Satan
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  fall like lightning from heaven. When did that take place?
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  I believe it took place in Satan's original prehistoric
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  fall. And don't miss the implications
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  of what Christ is saying here in Luke 1018.
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  Read your Bible slowly and chew. For Christ to claim that He was
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  present at the humiliating defeat of Satan, what does that
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  say about His nature? That He is pre-existing?
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  That He was there. That He eternally stood as the
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  Son of God and witnessed these events.
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  He was present even before the Incarnation, even before the
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  world was set into motion. Jesus, in this brief
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  declaration, is letting us know that He always was.
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  He always was. But more than that, this is a
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  statement describing the sheer power of God.
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  He says, I saw Satan fall like lightning.
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  You didn't see. I saw him fall like lightning in
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  the sense that he did become lightning.
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  That's not what he's saying at all.
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  He's giving a metaphor here. He's giving a picture that in
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  the same way lightning strikes the earth powerfully and
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  suddenly Satan's fall and his initial rebellion was just a
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  swift It was a flash. It's a blink of a moment.
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  It happened so quickly to again give us an understanding of just
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  how powerful our God is, the authority he has, and that
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  authority is proven over and over again when we look at the
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  next three falls. The second one is in the text
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  that we just read in the opening of this message that he was
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  thrown down in Revelation 12/9 to the earth and his angels were
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  thrown down with him. This is the second fall where
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  Satan no longer has access to heaven.
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  What's the third one? Go to Revelation 20.
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  This is Satan's fall into the abyss.
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  Revelation 20, verse one, John writes.
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  Then I saw an Angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand
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  the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
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  Pause for a moment. What's happening here in
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  Revelation 20? Well, Christ came back in
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  Revelation 19, So what we're reading now is a description of
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  some of the first orders that Christ will make upon His bodily
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  return to the earth when He sets up His Kingdom.
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  This is one of the first things he will do.
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  Verse 2 And he sees the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the
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  devil and Satan, and bound him for 1000 years and threw him
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  into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he
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  might not deceive the nation's any longer until the thousand
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  years were ended. After that he must be released
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  for a little while. So the 3rd fall of Satan is his
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  fall into the abyss. This will take place at the
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  beginning of the millennial reign of Christ that after
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  Christ returns, he's going to see Satan and he's going to
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  throw them into this pit and conceal it for 1000 years so
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  that while Christ rules and reigns on the earth, Satan will
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  not be able to deceive the nation's.
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  Can you imagine a world like that?
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  No perverted entertainment, no lies from governments at least
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  as prevalent. Doesn't mean that the world's
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  going to be absolutely perfect, but there is going to be a
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  greater sense of holiness and integrity while Satan is removed
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  from the scene and Christ dominates the world.
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  And then at the end of that, he's going to release Satan for
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  a little while, giving that generation a final chance to
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  either pledge your allegiance to Christ or to rebel against them.
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  And there will be some who will still rebel against them either,
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  even after witnessing Christ, enjoying his government, seeing
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  what what it looks like when Christ is King, people will
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  still choose to deny him. But that's just the 3rd fall.
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  Then we have to consider the 4th and the final one, and that's in
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  the same chapter. So after Satan is released for a
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  little while, he'll recruit the nation's to war against Christ.
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  And he still hasn't learned his lesson.
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  He's going to lose. And when he does lose, read here
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  with me Revelation 20, verse 9. And they marched up over the
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  broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the
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  Saints in the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven
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  and consumed them. And the devil who had deceived
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  them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur with her beast.
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  The beast and the false prophet were.
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  And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
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  Satan's final descent, his final fall, will be into hell, into
• 24:49
  hell itself. So here are the four falls of
• 24:52
  Satan. Why do I bring this to your
• 24:53
  attention? To show how God alone determines
• 24:57
  the boundaries of Satan, how God is the one who determines his
• 25:02
  influence and the reach of his activity.
• 25:07
  That at any time he can evict the evil 1 he can silence him,
• 25:11
  he can restrain him, he can punish him, and he has no
• 25:14
  ability to resist God. Satan is not on the same level
• 25:18
  as God. He's far more inferior and he is
• 25:22
  subject to his sovereignty. And this insight into God's
• 25:26
  unstoppable force and decree is a cause for our celebration.
• 25:32
  We should rejoice. This is the God that we serve,
• 25:34
  and it reveals much of the triumph that we get to share in
• 25:39
  because of our faith in Jesus Christ.
• 25:42
  Which brings us to our Third Point, the celebration of this
• 25:45
  war. Look again in Revelation 12,
• 25:47
  verse 10, and I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the
• 25:50
  salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the
• 25:53
  authority of his Christ have come.
• 25:55
  For the accuser of our brother brothers has been thrown down.
• 25:58
  Who accuses them day and night before our God so soon as Satan
• 26:03
  is thrown down. Remember now we're back to the
• 26:05
  second fall of Satan. This loud voice breaks out and
• 26:09
  declares the triumph of this moment.
• 26:12
  And what does he what does he say?
• 26:14
  What's the statement that highlights the significance of
• 26:17
  this victory? That the authority of his Christ
• 26:21
  has come, it's here, it has arrived.
• 26:27
  Now we know that it's not actually here.
• 26:28
  Christ is still going to do a few more things before he
• 26:32
  physically returns. But I think the reason why it's
• 26:36
  being celebrated here is because we are closer than ever that
• 26:41
  after Satan is removed, cleared out of the way so to speak, they
• 26:46
  can rejoice in knowing that there is an update to the
• 26:48
  arrival and the return of Christ.
• 26:50
  You see, it's as though Satan's removed from the heavenly realm
• 26:53
  signals a major shift in the preparation for Christ's return.
• 26:56
  He's now been confined, both him and his demons to the earth.
• 27:01
  He will not be able to interfere in that heavenly realm as Christ
• 27:05
  now is ready to make his way to this earth.
• 27:11
  But that celebration doesn't end here.
• 27:14
  In verse 11, this voice reminds us that Satan's defeat is
• 27:19
  something that took place long before this.
• 27:22
  We're not just seeing it play out, but there is something that
• 27:25
  happened that sealed his defeat and actually shows us why we are
• 27:31
  conquerors today over him. What does he say?
• 27:37
  And they have conquered him. Verse 11, Who are the day?
• 27:42
  The ones that Satan accuses day and night, That's us.
• 27:45
  And in verse 11, this voice says they have conquered him with two
• 27:49
  main weapons by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
• 27:53
  testimony. So why can we say that even now
• 27:58
  Satan has been conquered, that how can we even claim that this
• 28:01
  ancient serpent, this grey dragon, this deceiver, the whole
• 28:04
  world is defeated at this very moment while we're having
• 28:08
  church? Well, the first reason because
• 28:12
  the blood of the Lamb by the blood of the Lamb.
• 28:16
  Here's what we learned so far. Satan's primary attack, I mean
• 28:20
  we we saw it earlier, is to actually approach the presence
• 28:24
  of God on a continual basis and attempt to persuade him to
• 28:29
  change his mind about us to to resurface our sins, to show God
• 28:37
  our failures, to show us just how weak we are, how unfaithful
• 28:42
  we are with the idea that perhaps God will change his
• 28:49
  mind. This is what he occupies himself
• 28:52
  with, and he does so as we see here, day and night.
• 28:58
  But this verse also teaches us that there is one thing, one
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  thing that God sees worthy enough to silence Satan, no
• 29:07
  matter how many times he comes before God, no matter how
• 29:09
  persuasive his argument and his charges are.
• 29:13
  And it is the blood of the Lamb, nothing else.
• 29:16
  The only hope you and I have in overcoming Satan's charges is
• 29:21
  what Christ has done. And understanding and applying
• 29:25
  our faith to that reality and realizing that that payment has
• 29:29
  now been transmitted to my account.
• 29:31
  That is the only thing that silence is the evil. 1 And the
• 29:37
  moment you and I put our faith in that truth, that Christ's
• 29:41
  death on my behalf wins my righteousness forever and ever.
• 29:46
  Satan's voice over your life in the presence of God is muted.
• 29:51
  It's muted. He's speaking to nothing.
• 29:55
  It's a waste of his time. He smears our name.
• 30:00
  He highlights our failures. But according to this verse, in
• 30:04
  other places, the blood of Christ speaks a better word over
• 30:08
  you always. And this, by the way, teaches us
• 30:13
  how to do warfare. When Satan accuses you about
• 30:15
  you, he doesn't just accuse God or accuse us before God.
• 30:21
  He accuses you about you. He assaults your conscience.
• 30:25
  He whispers lies. He reminds you of your past.
• 30:28
  What do you do in those moments? Take your hint from this verse.
• 30:34
  Don't rehearse your obedience. Don't revisit your
• 30:37
  righteousness. Don't tell yourself how
• 30:39
  committed you are to the church and to ministry and your charity
• 30:43
  and your deeds. Cling to the blood.
• 30:46
  Always listen. The greater your understanding
• 30:49
  of the power of the blood, the sufficiency of the blood, the
• 30:52
  efficacy of the blood, the more you will be able to silence
• 30:55
  Satan when he accuses you. As that one hymn says, though,
• 31:03
  the restless foe accuses sins, recounting like a flood.
• 31:08
  Every charge our God refuses, Christ has answered with His
• 31:12
  blood. But that's not the only weapon
• 31:16
  mentioned here. We also read that it was through
• 31:19
  the word of their testimony. Now, what does that mean?
• 31:22
  There are a lot of ideas shared about it, but I think it
• 31:25
  connects to the first point. It's built on the first reality,
• 31:29
  the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.
• 31:32
  It's one thing to know intellectually that Jesus Christ
• 31:36
  shed his blood 2000 years ago. It's a whole other thing when
• 31:40
  you have a testimony about how it's changed you.
• 31:44
  What has that blood done for you?
• 31:47
  How has it transformed you? What is your history?
• 31:50
  What is your story connected to this truth of what Christ has
• 31:53
  done on that cross? And it's that public testimony
• 31:59
  from a personal realization of what Christ has done that
• 32:02
  delivers us and transforms us, that enables us to gain victory
• 32:07
  over him. And you know that you have truly
• 32:11
  tasted this gospel and what it has to offer when you're willing
• 32:15
  to die for it if need be, that it's more precious to you than
• 32:20
  your life itself. And that's why later in
• 32:22
  Revelation 11, it says, for they love not their lives, even unto
• 32:25
  death. If one of the greatest threats
• 32:29
  that Satan can present anybody is death, I will kill you.
• 32:34
  I will destroy you. Doesn't have any bearing any way
• 32:40
  to it, because you love this gospel more than your life.
• 32:43
  Then what does he have against you?
• 32:45
  Nothing really. If you're willing to die for
• 32:47
  this truth, then what can he really throw against you?
• 32:50
  What can He intimidate you with if death itself, does that have
• 32:56
  that same fear factor that it once did when you were not in
• 32:58
  Christ? So the blood of the Lamb and
• 33:02
  your personal testimony, connection to that truth enables
• 33:06
  us to conquer Satan. And as we heard earlier, there
• 33:12
  are 4 falls of Satan that but the Bible speaks of something
• 33:14
  unique. You can almost say that there
• 33:17
  are 5, but it's different from the four other ones that we saw.
• 33:24
  The four ones that we saw speak of His actual descent, His
• 33:28
  physical limitations until His total annihilation, so to speak.
• 33:34
  But Jesus speaks of another casting out that took place some
• 33:38
  time ago. Listen to these words from John
• 33:41
  chapter 12, verse 31. In John 12/31, when Jesus is
• 33:45
  speaking about His ministry at the cross, he mentions the
• 33:49
  following. Now is the judgement of this
• 33:52
  world. Now will the ruler of this world
• 33:55
  be cast out? And I, when I am lifted up from
• 34:01
  the earth, will draw all people to myself.
• 34:04
  Similar language, right? The ruler of this world will be
• 34:08
  cast out. One of the consequences of
• 34:13
  Christ victorious death on the cross is that the ruler of this
• 34:18
  world will be cast out. It speaks of a decisive moment
• 34:22
  of his defeat. But where is it going to be cast
• 34:26
  out too? We already saw that he was
• 34:28
  removed from his position, that he'll be removed from heaven and
• 34:30
  access to heaven, and then he'll be confined to the abyss and
• 34:34
  then thrown into hell to be tormented.
• 34:35
  So what does Jesus mean here when he says that the rule of
• 34:38
  this will be cast out? I don't.
• 34:39
  I don't think it speaks about anything physical necessarily.
• 34:42
  It speaks about Satan losing a level of power and authority,
• 34:50
  especially for those who have put their faith in Christ.
• 34:53
  He will be cast out in the sense that his arguments against you
• 34:59
  will be relinquished. His access to you will be
• 35:04
  limited. All these protective graces are
• 35:07
  now inherited by the one who understands what Christ has done
• 35:11
  on the cross and applies their repentance and faith to that
• 35:13
  truth. Satan, to some degrees cast out
• 35:17
  from that believer's life, and that's why we can say, according
• 35:21
  to Revelation, that he is conquered.
• 35:24
  For the one who understands what that blood did and has a
• 35:27
  personal testimony about it, this is the celebration of this
• 35:32
  victory. But we consider now the
• 35:35
  aftermath of this war. The aftermath of this war is
• 35:39
  found in verse 12 of chapter 12 of Revelation.
• 35:42
  Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, but
• 35:47
  woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you
• 35:49
  in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short.
• 35:56
  So this battle, it's, it's fought in heavenly places, but
• 35:59
  it will be felt on the earth during the tribulation period.
• 36:04
  Aware of greater limitations placed on him, Satan will be so
• 36:09
  enraged that he will vent his anger and he will vehemently
• 36:15
  seek to do all that he can to bring destruction to all that
• 36:20
  represents God on the earth. He will harass humanity on new
• 36:26
  levels. He will ramp up his schemes and
• 36:30
  his viciousness with a stronger awareness more than ever that
• 36:35
  Christ receiving His Kingdom is just around the corner.
• 36:41
  And we're going to see one of the things that he is going to
• 36:43
  do next week. But for now, let's just
• 36:47
  celebrate the fact that we have conquered and we have these
• 36:50
  emblems to help us taste and see that reality.
• 36:55
  And so I wonder today if you are confident that you've conquered
• 37:00
  this ancient serpent, which is a reference to his activity from
• 37:03
  Genesis 3, this great dragon, how he will show up in
• 37:06
  Revelation in that tribulation period.
• 37:08
  I wonder if you can say with absolute certainty, I have no
• 37:11
  reason to fear him. I have no reason to fear his
• 37:14
  threats. Even if he wants to kill me
• 37:15
  because I have a story, I'm saved, I'm delivered, I belong
• 37:25
  to Christ. All my sins have been washed
• 37:28
  clean. And I'm so certain of the power
• 37:35
  of this blood that I can sleep so sweetly at night, even though
• 37:41
  Satan stays up all night trying to convince God otherwise.
• 37:47
  And I'm growing in my confidence in the power of this blood, that
• 37:50
  when I'm driving or when I'm laying in bed or when I'm out
• 37:53
  and about and all of a sudden I just feel this guilt and shame
• 37:56
  come over me. I rehearse the power of the
• 38:01
  blood. I remind myself that God's not
• 38:04
  looking anything from me except that blood being applied.
• 38:12
  You can know that today. If you can't, if you can't say
• 38:16
  with absolute assurance that you have made a conscious decision
• 38:20
  of putting your faith in that truth.
• 38:22
  Just reserve yourself from partaking in this.
• 38:23
  This is for those who know that they've been saved by grace and
• 38:27
  believer. Because of this good news, we
• 38:29
  have to walk in light in light of it and in line with it.
• 38:32
  So if your heart is astray, if your heart is dull, if if you're
• 38:35
  living in conscience, unrepentance and repent of it,
• 38:39
  get rid of it and prepare yourself to partake into
• 38:43
  fellowship with the Lord in this ordinance.
• 38:46
  So let's pray, then we'll sing, and then we'll meet together at
• 38:49
  this table. Shall we do that?
• 38:57
  Thank you, Lord, for this message.
• 39:01
  Thank you for showing us the play by play of your total
• 39:04
  victory. And thank you, Lord, that this
• 39:08
  victory is absolutely certain because of the blood of the
• 39:12
  Lamb. Thank you for redeeming us,
• 39:18
  though we deserve to be condemned.
• 39:19
  Thank you for cleaning us, though we were so filthy.
• 39:24
  And Lord, we've come now as your church to declare that it is by
• 39:28
  grace alone to declare that it is what you have done in that
• 39:33
  body, on that tree, on our behalf that gives us this
• 39:38
  victory. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
• 39:43
  Why don't we stand? Let's stand and worship.